A woman finds a puma in her kitchen

A woman got a shock when she went downstairs, started making breakfast and found a puma roaming around in her kitchen.

Amalin Haddad screamed as she made the startling discovery in the family home in the Lo Curro area of Santiago, Chile.

At first, she thought it was a dog but then realised it was a puma and promptly locked it in the kitchen before calling authorities.

Ms Haddad’s son, Nicolas Selma, said he was awoken by his mother’s screams and went down to see what was happening.

The two-year-old big cat did not attack either of them, or their dog, but footage showed it chewing on a window blind which ended up ripped apart on the floor. Furniture was also damaged.

Ms Haddad said: “I was making breakfast and all of a sudden … I thought it was a dog because I saw its legs first, but it was a puma. A puma, a puma like those you see in the zoo.”

Her son told reporters: “I was sleeping when all of a sudden I heard screams, ‘It’s a puma!’ I came down and we really had a puma locked in the kitchen.”

The cat was then shot with tranquiliser darts by experts but it reportedly managed to take them out.

And it took them a while to remove the animal from the kitchen after it was eventually sedated.

Police said the animal was well cared for. It was probably a pet that had either escaped or was released into the wild and was trying to get home when it came across the Haddad house, they said.

Neighbour Carolina Herrera said: “The people from SAG (agricultural service) shot it with three darts so it would sleep so they could take it out.”

“But I think he took them out, so it did not work. And that is why it has taken so long to get it out.”

The puma was taken to the national zoo where it was treated for minor injuries.

Officials have not said what will happen with the animal once it has recovered from its adventure.

Tags: puma in the kitchen, santiago, world